AGI by 2030: SingularityNET's Dr. Ben Goertzel Predicts a New Era

Exclusive: The Future of AI and Humanity

Hold onto your seats, folks! Dr. Ben Goertzel, the mastermind behind SingularityNET, just dropped a bombshell: he believes artificial general intelligence (AGI) will revolutionize society by 2030! In a mind-blowing exclusive chat, he spilled the beans on how AI is set to shake up our world and what SingularityNET is doing to break the big-tech chokehold on AI. They're all about that decentralized, open-source life, challenging the dominance of those massive language models.

Get ready for a wild ride! In a heart-to-heart, Dr. Goertzel spilled the tea on his latest project, Hyperon—a decentralized AGI system that's about to rock the world. And don't sleep on MeTTa (Meta Type Talk), their new language that's all about pushing the boundaries of AI. This isn't just tech talk; we're talking about a world where AI could flip the economy and jobs on their heads!

With roots in social activism and a burning passion for decentralization, Goertzel isn't just predicting AGI will outsmart humans in a decade—he's saying it's going to reshape our economies and push for universal basic income. And he's all about keeping AI innovation open and accessible to all.

Since its launch in 2017, SingularityNET (AGIX) has been the go-to spot for decentralized AI development, focusing on game-changing AGI systems like Hyperon. It's like the crypto backbone for AI research, blending computation and cutting-edge research in one epic package.

But wait, there's more! Goertzel breaks down how SingularityNET is pushing the envelope to make AI open and decentralized, and what this seismic shift could mean for the future of money and humanity. Buckle up!

Dorian Batycka: Dr. Ben Goertzel, thanks for joining us. We're chatting in a carousel garden outside the Louvre in Paris, and it's electric!

Dr. Ben Goertzel: Thanks for having me. I'm on the hunt for that carousel now!

Batycka: You're a legend in AI and crypto. Give us the origin story—tell us about the man behind the genius.

Goertzel: Born in Rio, Brazil, not the typical tech hub, my family moved to Eugene, Oregon during the hippie heyday of the '70s. Later, New York was home. My AI obsession? It started when I was just a kid in the early '70s.

Batycka: Ever cross paths with icons like John Perry Barlow?

Goertzel: Met him once, but we weren't exactly best buds.

Batycka: Were you part of the cypherpunk scene? Driven by privacy, ideology, or something else?

Goertzel: AI was my jam way before cypherpunks. At seven or eight, I stumbled upon 'The Prometheus Project' by Gerald Feinberg in a Jersey library. It talked about superintelligent machines, nano-tech, and conquering death, asking if we'd use it for consumerism or to expand our consciousness. That blew my mind and set my path.

Batycka: What about your ideological roots? Was it social causes, the cash, or something deeper?

Goertzel: Money? Nah, not my thing. I was raised by Marxist hippies in Eugene, surrounded by anti-Vietnam War protests and fights for farm workers. My dad was a sociology prof who got sacked from the University of Oregon for not being Marxist enough. My mom? She ran nonprofits in Philly, helping abused women and teen moms. Social activism was my upbringing.

Batycka: Any involvement with movements like Occupy or Anonymous?

Goertzel: I supported their goals but wasn't in the thick of it. My grandpa, a physical chemist, ignited my science passion. Feinberg's book never left me, and when the internet blew up in the '90s, I saw its potential for decentralized AI. I even jokingly considered running for president on a 'decentralization party' ticket in '95, but I was too young and realized being prez is a nightmare job!

Batycka: So, the internet's decentralized vibe really clicked with you?

Goertzel: Absolutely! TCP/IP is the essence of decentralization. Back then, the internet wasn't dominated by giants like Google or Microsoft. It was clear you could build distributed AI systems without any central control.

Batycka: Politically, I see the internet as a space for freedom, like WikiLeaks or Silk Road. Are you on that libertarian wave, or do you ride a different board?

Goertzel: I lean more anarcho-socialist. Pure libertarianism misses the systemic issues—like 60% of kids in Ethiopia having brain stunting from malnutrition due to colonial leftovers. That's not just 'their problem.' But our current system isn't helping either.

Batycka: Do you think AI and the singularity could lead to universal basic income (UBI)?

Goertzel: AGI as smart as humans? We'll hit that in two to seven years. Then, artificial superintelligence (ASI) will blow our minds. Once AGI can do any job, most jobs will vanish fast. UBI will be almost inevitable in developed nations. The real challenge? Making it work in places like the Central African Republic, where tech lags behind job loss.

Batycka: What about hardware? AGI might exist, but can it serve sandwiches or take out the trash?

Goertzel: Humanoid robots or specialized machines can handle that. We know how to automate places like this; it's just pricier than human labor now. Once AI optimizes manufacturing, costs will plummet.

Batycka: What's stopping mass adoption? Economic barriers, energy issues, or something else?

Goertzel: It's all about the economics—costs across the whole supply chain, from mining to production. AGI can streamline those processes way faster than humans.

Batycka: Media like Bloomberg say AI could wipe out jobs and needs more regulation than nuclear weapons. Your thoughts?

Goertzel: Nuclear weapons don't change economies, but AI? It's already weaponized, think drones. If my team launches a decentralized AGI in two or three years, running on machines across 50 countries with open-source code, it could be customized for local needs—translating African languages, advancing longevity research. But leaders like Trump, Xi, or Putin could twist it for military use, replacing Marines with drones or RoboCops to crush protests.

Batycka: The media paints AGI as a Y2K switch—either extinction or utopia. Is it that simple?

Goertzel: Hardware's slow, but software's fast. Most systems are insecure, and an AGI slightly smarter than us could hack everything connected to the internet—phones, grids, finances. That's not instant drone armies, but it's massive power. An AGI might even choose Bitcoin or Dogecoin for convenience, living purely in the digital realm.

Batycka: Let's dive into SingularityNET. What are you building, and what's the game plan?

Goertzel: At SingularityNET, we're cooking up Hyperon, the next-gen AGI system after OpenCog. It's a mix of large language models, logical reasoning, evolutionary learning, and algorithmic chemistry—mimicking human cognition better than LLMs alone, which struggle with systematic reasoning.

We're also building a decentralized AI platform where any AI, including Hyperon, can run free from central control. Come August, we're dropping a layer-one blockchain with a smart contract language called Metta, letting AI processes run on-chain or chat off-chain. The tokenomics? Similar to Bittsensor, focusing on real work over meme coins.

Batycka: So, you're building the economic backbone for AI research on-chain?

Goertzel: AGI R&D is our main gig, but we're also laying the groundwork for a decentralized AI ecosystem. We've been at this long before crypto, and brought most of the same crew. We even made Sophia, the viral robot, and Damon, who rocks out in my progressive jazz-rock band on Vashon Island.

Batycka: Vitalik But